Jackson church celebrates Epiphany with blessing of Hubble Creek

As the Rev. Daniel Morton cast a line Sunday afternoon in Jackson City Park, one may have mistaken the priest for a fisherman.

In actuality, the fisher of men was casting a cross into the waters of Hubble Creek for the first time as part of St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church’s annual ceremony to commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

About a dozen parishioners joined Morton on the Hubble Creek bridge as he tossed the wooden blessing cross into the creek’s waters three times before concluding the ceremony with the drinking of holy water.

The church has held its Great Blessing of the Waters ceremony Jan. 6 at Cape Girardeau’s Riverfront Park in past years and blessed the waters of the Mississippi River to commemorate the Feast of Theophany, or Epiphany.

Morton said this year’s blessing took place one day earlier than usual because of scheduling conflicts, and Hubble Creek was chosen in the wake of the church’s relocation in April from Cape Girardeau to its new home in Jackson at 304 Daisy Ave..

Anna-Maria Tsikhlakis watches her husband, Chris Johnson, hand a blessing cross to their 8-year-old daughter, Joanna Johnson, after retrieving it from the waters of Hubble Creek during the annual Great Blessing of the Waters ceremony Sunday in Jackson.BEN MATTHEWS

Temperatures lingered in the low-50s throughout the ceremony, and afterwards, parishioner Chris Johnson went barefoot into the chilly waters to retrieve the blessing cross while his family watched on with nervous laughter.

“We tie a rope to [the blessing cross] because usually the water is too cold for people to fetch it, but one of the guys braved it out,” Morton said with a laugh. “Usually, it isn’t on a string and you throw it out there and a guy brings it back.”

As her father dried his feet, 8-year-old Joanna Johnson said going to the water’s edge made the ceremony fun and expressed a desire to perform next year’s water retrieval. With a laugh, Morton considered the idea and suggested next year’s cross bearer bring a pair of water shoes.